Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play, Waiting for Godot, premiered in Paris in 1953, at the Théâtre de Babylone, under the direction of French actor, Roger Blin. Many other directors staged the play in the years to come, each time interpreting it in their own way. All the while, Beckett complained that the play was being subjected to “endless misunderstanding.” However, when an actor, Peter Woodthrope, once asked him to explain what Godot is all about, Beckett answered quixotically: “It’s all symbiosis, Peter; it’s symbiosis.” Thanks for the clarification, Sam.

Beckett never gave a clear explanation. But perhaps he offered up something better. In 1985, Beckett directed three of his plays — Waiting for Godot, Krapp’s Last Tape and Endgame — as part of a production called “Beckett Directs Beckett.” The plays performed by the San Quentin Players toured Europe and Asia with much fanfare, and with Beckett exerting directorial control. And do keep this in mind. Beckett paces things slowly. So you won’t hear your first sound until the 2:00 mark.

Comments (4)

Why is it “quixotic” to describe Waiting for Godot symbiosis? I looked it up and it is defined as: “interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.” That actually sums up the play quite well to me, and doesn’t seem particularly foolish or impractical.

Although it is wonderful to have another version of Godot on the web to view, the description of Beckett’s involvement in this production is not very accurate. It makes it sound as if Beckett had never directed before. He had. He directed many of his plays before 1985, helped many directors with the staging of his work (in letters and in person), and even was Asmus’s assistant director for productions before this one in Berlin.

Subscribe

Get updates as soon as they go live, via RSS feed, email and now Twitter!

Follow on Twitter

Get the latest from our Twitter Stream.

Facebook

Why can't we be friends?

Suggest a Link

Got a link we should post? Send it our way!

About Us

Open Culture editor Dan Colman scours the web for the best educational media. He finds the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & movies you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.